Day 1 - 5.7 miles

Today was the start of Part 2 of my Appalachian Trek.  Nice sunny day in the mid seventies and an easy trail.  A hiker that I met last year on the trail is hiking with me.  His trail name is Shakin and like me, he sustained an injury last year that forced him off the trail about the same area. 

We took an easy day today with a warm up hike of 5.7 miles from Old Stonehouse Rd into Boiling Springs, PA.  We walked thru many farm fields of new grain plantings that were about a foot high.  The bright green fields gave a true feeling of Spring.  It only took us just under two hours to clip thru this section, of course we were "slackpacking" (light day packs) which helps speed up the hike.  Nice way to ease into this long trek.

When we got to Boiling Springs, we stopped by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy Mid-Atlantic office to check on water availability and trail conditions northward.  With such a wet Spring, its looks like we won't have any water issues.

Tonight we luxuriate in the comfort of a motel room then Sandy and Samantha will drop us off at the trail in the morning.  Now the real work starts.

Here are Shakin and me at the ATC.